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James Donnelly
| image = File:Capitan 1.png | imagewidth = 250px | gender = Male | location = Los Angeles | status = Alive | affiliation = LAPD Cole Phelps Rusty Galloway Floyd Rose William Worrell Stefan Bekowsky | birth = May 25, 1905 | weapon = Unarmed | actor = Andrew Connolly}} Captain James Donnelly is a major character in L.A. Noire. He is Captain of the Homicide Department of the LAPD. Biography Background James Donnelly is likely to be of Irish descent. Sometime, he joined the LAPD and eventually became the Captain of the Homicide Desk, handling the affairs of the department and assigning detectives to murder cases. Events of L.A. Noire Cole Phelps met Cpt. Donnelly after his arrest of Edgar Kalou. Surprised that a simple patrol officer had beaten his Homicide detectives at a murder investigation, Donnelly allowed Phelps to conduct the interrogation of Kalou. After successfully extracting a confession from the Kalou, Donnelly applauded Phelps, acknowledging his efforts during the war and his show of intuition. Donnelly soon after requested Phelps' promotion to Detective, starting out in Traffic, then Burglary, and eventually moving up to Homicide. Partnering Phelps with Rusty Galloway, replacing retired Detective Floyd Rose. Donnelly sent the two to investigate Celine Henry's murder and subsequent cases, the murders of Deidre Moller, Antonia Maldonado, Theresa Taraldsen and Evelyn Summers. Although the cases were successfully closed, Donnelly and Phelps began to see similarities between the murders, all linking to each other and to the unresolved Black Dahlia murder, though Donnelly and Rusty dismissed the similarities as acts of copycats. Impressed with their strong convictions, Donnelly praised Phelps and Galloway as his "finest crusaders". After receiving a series of anonymous letters and retrieving Deidre Moller's rings, Donnelly and Phelps realized that they were being mocked by the Black Dahlia killer, who was ultimately responsible for the other murders. This meant that the department had arrested five innocent men, with four impending execution sentences. Donnelly warned Phelps and Galloway that their careers would be over and would have to take the blame for their wrongful convictions unless they caught the real culprit. Using the letters as clues, Phelps and Galloway set out to find the real killer, during which they found substantial evidence from the previous murders. The trail ultimately led them to the Christ Crown of Thorns where they found and killed Garrett Mason, the Werewolf Serial killer, in a shootout. Donnelly arrived and revealed that Mason was in fact the half brother of a very powerful and undisclosed politician, hence Mason's name and acts were to be kept out of public knowledge and out of official records. However, Donnelly promised that he and the District Attorney would ensure that the previous suspects would be quietly released. With the truth quietly buried, Phelps was promoted to Vice. Later, as Phelps was trying to close the stolen morphine case, he questioned Courtney Sheldon and Dr. Harlan Fontaine. Donnelly and William Worrell appeared and interrupted Phelps' interview, summoning him to Worrell's office where they revealed the adultery charges against him for his affair with Elsa Lichtmann. Donnelly harshly chastised Phelps, expressing disgust and disappointment. Personality Captain Donnelly is the feared more than respected Officer-in-Charge of the Homicide desk. Less concerned with the letter of the law than with a strong arrest record, he often presses his subordinates into extracting confessions by force rather than relying on evidence. Almost invariably, interrogations under Captain Donnelly's watch are performed after he has "warmed up" the suspects. His agenda is usually political; and he is mainly concerned with strong convictions to generate positive press. Donnelly professes to be a highly religious man, and speaks frequently in poetic biblical language (such as referring to criminals as "sons of Cain" or "heathens") but it is clear that this is a facade he uses to cloak his sadistic nature under a pretense of righteousness. This is evident by how he demonizes and brutalizes convicted felons and often innocent suspects. Careers are made and broken on Captain Donnelly’s word. Case Appearances Patrol *"Buyer Beware" Homicide *"The Red Lipstick Murder" *"The Golden Butterfly" *"The Silk Stocking Murder" *"The White Shoe Slaying" *"The Studio Secretary Murder" *"The Quarter Moon Murders" Vice *"Manifest Destiny" Trivia *Donnelly appears to be modeled after Captain Dudley Smith from the movie L.A. Confidential. Smith was also the head of Homicide and was Irish. Both are self-serving, political climbers. Although where Smith was corrupt, Donnelly seems to be an honest man. *An unusual aspect of Donnelly's character is his penchant for speaking in poetic phrases. This spoofs similar characters in film and television (particularly cops of Irish ancestry) who speak in the same manner. *Donnelly has shown he is not against breaking the law, as in "The Silk Stocking Murder", after Donnelly congratulates Phelps on finishing the case, he steals a crate of wine from the Just Picked Fruit Market. *In game subtitles have his surname misspelled as "Donnely". This is seen in "The Red Lipstick Murder" when Cole Phelps is on the phone with R & I. *Despite being his superior officer, Donnelly is younger than Rusty Galloway. *Several cutscenes, most notably the opening of "The Studio Secretary Murder" show Donnelly occupying Gordon Leary's office. In some Traffic case cutscenes, Leary does the same by occupying Donnelly's office. Gallery Capitan.png learyphelps.jpg|Rusty Galloway, Cole Phelps and Donnelly. Captain_James_Donnelly.png Donnelly-keyart.png|Donnelly's dossier. donnelly point.jpg Donnelly press.jpg James.Donnelly.jpg de:James Donelly es:James Donelly Category:Characters Category:Police Administration